


Edward Orson: Storm of the Living GemStones Part 3

by Greyforrester



Series: Edward Orson Stories [4]
Category: Doctor Who, Marvel, Star Trek, Stargate - All Media Types, Steven Universe (Cartoon), 宝石の国 | Houseki no Kuni | Land of the Lustrous (Anime & Manga), 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:00:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23491309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greyforrester/pseuds/Greyforrester
Summary: Edward Orson lands on Nidavellir and soon afterward, the Soul GemStone with the Power Stone kills all the dwarfs on it.Kino and the Kaleidescope man battle the Borg of Unimatrix Six, the former discovers their true nature.Centuries ago, the crew of the Titor, along with the Doctor, meet with Simon Belmont, not long afterwards Dracula launches an attack them.
Series: Edward Orson Stories [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1688788





	Edward Orson: Storm of the Living GemStones Part 3

**Chapter 13: Forging Ahead**

Edward dug his broken weapon, Veritas, into the ground, pointing the hilt upwards and marking it like a grave. He knelt at it losing track of time until a purple and orange miasma brushed over the entire area. He stabbed his borrowed weapon into the air and propelled himself high above the landscape. He could see that the ring he was on was one of several, the others were rotating around the glowing white star, confirming his earlier observation of the entire structure being manufactured by an industry. In the extreme distance, he could see what looked like a citadel lit from slits in the walls on either side of the ring. He stabbed his weapon in the city' direction and began soaring towards it rapidly.

Upon landing, he was disturbed to find dozens of bodies lying still on the ground. They all looked to be between twice and four times his height, braided hair on their head and bushy beards. Some were bleeding from their heads, others were dangling form scaffolding and a few were leaning on benches. He pressed his hand near the throats of several of them as he headed towards a large brick tower, he felt no pulse on any of them. His heart sank, filling with dread and anger, he slammed his fist on the ground before deciding to swallow his dispair. He took the time to close any open-eyed corpses he found and then headed inside. He could see a spiral walkway heading upwards and downwards, he looked downwards and, spotting a glow in the depths, he hopped over the edge and let himself drop.

As he fell he could hear the sound of industry intensify, the clattering of gears, the rattling of chains and the crackle of violent evaporation. He landed with a loud crash, in amongst conveyor belts, buckets the size of water tanks and rivers of molten metal, he could see there were more giants lying still. He contemplated shouting into the facility, but refrained when he accepted a grim reality; that the coloured miasma he saw earlier had torn the souls of every living being on the gargantuan structure. He jumped onto a desk, finding bars of glossy metal lying on it along with a pair of pliers much too big for him to hold properly. He held Thor's weapon out, noting that the metal on the two were the same colour and texture. Attempting to budge or lift the ingot several times ended in failure, it would not move at all. Frustrated, he smashed it with his hammer, sending it flying and crashing into a spinning gear. He dropped the weapon and rubbed is face. Then he saw something moving in the distance, it didn't flow or rotate or otherwise oscillate and he could hear the sound of clanging metal near him. It ran by a river of metal, shedding light on it. It had a pointed head, and two tall glowing openings on the front, it's body, arms, and legs were made of over a dozen horizontal pieces of metal and it was barrelling straight toward him. He picked up his weapon again and ran behind another, larger bar of metal, smashing his weapon into it and sending it soaring towards the approaching metal marauder. The metal crashed into it, knocking it to the ground. Edward stood tensely, refusing to take his eyes off it. The steel stranger began to climb to it's feet and continue rushing at him. He threw Stormbreaker at it, knocking it off its feet again, and caught the axe as it came soaring back to his hands. He then tossed it softly, to its feet.

“Look, it's made of you isn't it? That's Stormbreaker,” He pointed out. It picked itself back up again and then it lifted Edward's borrowed weapon, it examined it for a few moments before turning to him. Edward retracted his helmet, choking on the metallic air for a few moments before he could begin explaining the situation, “Look, I'm not Thor but I'm doing my best to unfuck this situation. The bifrost sent me here along with a companion of mine and another, a holder of two Infinity GemStones. It has the powers of the Soul and Power GemStones, I'm certain that it's what killed everyone here, I bought it here, let me destroy it!”

It stared at him. Eventually the red glow in its helmet dimmed and it nodded. Edward breathed a sigh of relief and then pitched a few questions to it,

“Can you operate the equipment in this place?”

It nodded.

“Right, can you shut this place down, avoid any further disaster?

It shook its head.

“Tell me this place shuts down by it's own”

It nodded a second time.

“Oh, thank Odin!”

It nodded again.

“Right, I've got some stuff to tell you, and a bargain to make. You ready?”

It nodded once more.

Edward showed it the device on the back of his left hand, “This is the Truth GemStone; its, ironically enough, an imitation Infinity GemStone made form siphoning the power off the real things. Yeah, one of my more ambitious but less successful ideas, I needed your friends or workmates to build what we called the Imperium Module; the thing that's around it, to contain and throttle its power, currently it's stuck siphoning only the power of the Time GemStone.” It lurched backward. “I'm gonna use it to send you back in time, as far as you want, for best results we'll have to make a gate out of this stuff. I want to send you back in time, not just so you can re-unite with your buddies, but so you can help me defeat the creature with the gems. How does that all of that sound.” It looked away from him for a moment and then looked back, it began to nod it's head enthusiastically. “Good, thank you, first things first, I had to break my own weapon, to avoid their soul being mangled like your friends' souls were. I want to send you back in time with the remains of that weapon, I _need_ you to reforge it as best as you can. I encourage you to take all the time you need. But first, we need to dig up its remains and stick it in something. The armour looked around and walked off, after a few moments, it came back with a small metal trough (that looked tiny compared to it) and threw an oversized shovel at Edward, knocking him onto his back, “ah, I'll carry this,” he groaned.

The two journeyed outside, trudging the long trail that Edward took only a minute to fly by earlier, it felt even longer to Ed as he could not work up the gumption to talk to the armour during the trip. A silence which was exaggerated by just how eerily silent the surface was, every snapped branch, every gravel-crunching step and every rustling leaf seemed deafening. Eventually, they found the site marking hilt. The armour motioned for the shove, which Ed helpfully dropped at it's feet. It began to fill the trough to the brim with all the earth it had dug up and then the two headed back. The trip back hardly felt appreciably shorter to him.

The giant metal construct gently laid the container down on a bench and turned to the human visitor, expectantly. Edward stared at it for a moment before realising, “Oh, the plan!” Edward held out his arm, palm facing forward, and a hologram of a ring with what looked like several arrows pointed inward appeared, one area turned transparent, showing the materials within it. “See this, it's an Alteran transport device my people call a stargate. They used it to get around their domain that stretched across a few galaxies, when I charge this one with Anti-time particles, it'll create a portal here and back a few millenia in the past and, it'll send you to between the two portal.” The giant tilted it's head upwards, then turned to face Edward, nodding once more.

Edward followed its pointing and other gestures, the two moving buckets around, cranking valves, pulling levers, yanking chains and, eventually, they had the circular apparatus' externals made. The armour made palm-thrusting gesture again, Edward quickly figured he wanted to see the hologram again. It pointed to the crystals on the inside of the blueprint and then did a 'follow me' gesture to him.

The two trudged down an endlessly long hallway, lined with pockets of work areas. They stepped trough a hardened puddle of spilled metal along with more bodies. The armour turned and headed behind a corner, Edward followed him and found a vast room. It was lined with drawers with strange text on them. The armour pointed at him and then opened it's palm. Edward took it to mean,'wait here'. It entered an elevator in the corner of the room, pulled a lever and started heading upwards. Ed looked around, seeing that there were elevators in all four corners of the facility. There were ladders on rails, made, Edward concluded, for the dwarfs to climb safely up to the drawers on high. In low key defiance of the metal automaton's orders, he heaved a storage drawer on the ground floor open and hopped up inside. Inside were blocks of a wispy white material that began to float out, he forced the thing nearly shut. He leapt up to catch the few pieces that had floated off and forced them through the gap he left open. He then shoulder charged it, shutting it entirely. He looked at the elevator expectantly, and when he saw no movement, opened another drawer, revealing nothing but dust. A third contained a glowing mint-green and blue ore that stuck to the metal sides of the drawer, a substance that resembled what he knew as Bavarium.

Edward then felt something lift him by his sides and shove the drawer shut. He turned to see that it was the armour that had hoisted him, along with a large box. He grimaced at it and apologised, “Sorry... you really have everything here, don't you?”, it set him down on the floor, giving him a shove towards the entrance.

The two were strolling back to where the round apparatus was when they saw a glow ahead. They came to an immediate halt.“This place should've shut down long ago, right?” Ed asked in a stage whisper. “I think that may be the one who killed your friends.” The grey golem started charging at the glow in the distance, it's face began to glow a bright red.

“Crap, should've kept my mouth shut!” he cursed under his breath. The distant glow became brighter and more distinctly purple. “Careful!” he shouted, “she's baiting you!”. It paid no attention to his words. Ed brandished Stormbreaker, rematerialised his helmet, and propelled himself ahead of his chrome companion. As he approached he saw that the walls were beginning to grow purple, he looked ahead and confirmed that he was indeed approaching the girl with the two gems. She launched herself at him and seeing this, Ed let go of his weapon and fell to the floor. Stormbreaker continued to soar, colliding with her and causing the walls to rattle. They then burst apart, the explosion consumed Edward and blasted him backwards. The destructive girl continued her flight, colliding with the armour and sending the two sliding horizontally. She laid several blows on it, each ringing out like the tolling of a gigantic bell. The glow in the armour intensified, becoming a beam of blinding light, it then shot a stream of fire, engulfing the girl. This did nothing to deter her as she began to strike its head instead. It responded by picking her up and tossing her into a wall. The Purple gem on her back collided with the wall, letting out a bright burst of energy. Edward had just gotten to his feet when the blast sent him flying in the other direction.

After flying and then sliding for a seemingly interminable period, he was sent spinning when he bumped into the pool of spilt metal. He stood up, unsteadily, onto his feet. He looked down both sides of the hall, each as dim as the other. He beckoned for his weapon to return, which it did, after some waiting, then he propelled himself down the direction it came from. He flew into a pile of rubble underneath a gigantic hole, one that lead to the surface. He began to strike the debris, knocking the pile down until something started to stir within it. The armour emerged, still carrying the box. Without a moments hesitation, it proceed to continue travelling where the two made the stargate, stumbling through the portion of the hallway that the Purple girl wrecked.

The two finished affixing the materials inside of the gate. Ed dug out a crevasse for it to stand in while the armour rolled it into place. He then pressed Stormbreaker gently against it, the weapon began to pour electricity into it. Light shone out of the inner rim of the ring, glowing brighter and brighter until a burst of watery energy shot out of it. Ed then placed his left hand on it, infusing it and the shimmering pool within it with energy, turning both green.

“It's ready now. Oh! please don't forget the sword!” Ed reminded it. It nodded and picked up the trough of dirt. Ed use his suit's nanomachines to materialise a slate, from it emerged a series of elaborate blueprints. “See, I'm a bit of an engineer, myself. These are some of my most ambitious and, yeah, impractical designs. I'm going to need your buddies' best and most meticulous work.” It nodded again and rubbed the top of Edward's head taking the slate as it walked through.

Edward held his hand in the air, nervously thinking about Veritas the sword and how he smashed it to spare it's personification death by the Infinity GemStone. He waited, each moment adding to his excruciating anxiety and guilt. Had they had the skill to figure out how to undo his damage, had he killed Veritas for good? Had they lost the sword over the centuries?

A humming approaching from above and behind him answered his question. His black and crimson blade came soaring towards him, the edging was as pristine as ever and there was no sign of any damage he had dealt to it. He walked to the bottom of the spiral walkway, his armour indicated the transponder of his newly-formed yet now ancient tablet slate, was coming from the top of the building he was standing far beneath and that there was a life form near it. He launched himself upwards, all the way to the top of the coiling path. There he saw what looked to be a large container and next to it stood a pale-skinned, black-haired woman; Veritas Umbra. Edward retracted his helmet, dropped Stormbreaker and gazed at her for a moment before the two ran into each other's embrace.

“Twice, twice I've almost lost you,” he sniffled, “I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me?”

“I already have, as soon as I woke up surrounded by the dwarfs, I forgave you. That was several millennia ago.”

“Wait,” he gasped, pulling the two out of the hug and looking her in the eyes, “You were still alive when that energy hit?”

“I guess so, they made a stasis box for me, they said it would isolate me from the whole universe.”

Edward looked over at the container and noticed his slate had been bonded to the front of it.

“Do you want to look within it?” she asked, knowingly.

“Sure!” he replied, excitedly realising he still had Veritas the sword in his hand. He handed it to her and approached the box, which was taller than he was. The two sides he could see opened out. One had two distinct boxes of text on it that, now that Veritas was providing him with his omnilingual Eye of Truth, he could read. They read:

'He of metal who emerged of green, brought a prophecy, graven.

It said one of orange and purple would come and lay waste to all life on Nidavellir.

With her will come one wielding a king's weapon, but is no king himself.

He brought us another weapon, one Veritas, to repair in the promise of avenging this calamity.

With all our skill and all our might and all our time and all our fury,

We will forge him weapons to make this right; one for each stone he'll fight

we name the best of them;

Iustitia.'

On the other wall held several weapons; a pair of what looked like pistols; a snaking, segmented sword; a curved hilt; another slate, a pair of straight-edge blades joined at the one handle; and, taking pride of place in the centre, a cannon with an axe head attached like a bayonet.

“You must be Iustitia,” he beamed, “here, Vert, hold Stormbreaker please.” He handed her the axe/hammer and when she took it, it immediately fell to the ground, sending her stumbling forward. He caught her before she fell, apologising for his moment of thoughtlessness. He turned back to the weapons, accidentally guiding her to face it. He held out his hand and the weapons began to rattle. He let her go and summoned the snaking blade into his grasp. He began to carefully flail it away from her. He then placed it around his waist, it squeezed itself tightly, yet comfortably to him. Next he grabbed the pistols in each hand and examined the front (from an angle, he was starting to take care), he noticed that they had a narrow slit in the front that grew slightly wider as they reached the top.

“They called that one around your waste the belt of Jormungandr and those in your hands can turn into a pair of swords,” she detailed, keenly. The top half compressed slightly and the handle rotated to be straight with the 'barrel'. A sheer white blade emerged from each. “Oh, they said that they used neutrons, neutrons as ammo and a blade made of them.

“Damn, it sounds like they're made of Neutronium! Amazing!” he speculated with barely-restrained awe. He switched them back to guns and placed them absentmindedly on the back of his new belt. To his surprise, they stuck firm to it. He grabbed the curved hilt and held it with both hands, a thin length of similairly-curved metal emerged from it and sent out a blade, also a pure white. He retracted it and then holstered it on his right side. He took the two-bladed weapon and examined it. A handle flipped out perpendicular to the blade, he tossed it in the air, grabbed the other handle and the two blades slid together at their bases. “This'll go well on my arm,” he commented, tossing it in the air and letting it land on his left forearm, it stuck firm to it.

He spotted a metal glove for a right hand in the corner, at the base of each finger was a concave slot along with a sixth in the middle of the back of it.

“Oh, wow, I heard a tale that Thanos had kidnapped several dwarfs and made them forge him a housing for the gems. I never thought they'd make one willingly.” He nervously grabbed the gauntlet. He disappeared his armour's left hand and receded some of it from the wrist, he then placed it gingerly over his hand, it fit all-too-well.

“You could've had me handle that one.” She jabbed at him.

“Did you feel a tingle, using the Soul Stone?” he asked.

“Yeah, you weren't even holding it, just drawing it filtered through the sword. Using the all six can have deadly consequences,” he gravely warned, as he grabbed the slate.

“That unfolds into a white shield, put it on your other forearm,” Vert instructed. Ed shuffled his equipment, sliding the slate on his belt, placing the double-ended blade on his right forearm, and finally he moved the slate to his left forearm.

“Sorry, I'm a bit nervous. I've never known anyone to wear this much of this sort of metal. I hear it's bad for the mind,” Ed said. Vert nodded understandingly and then jumped backward as a circle of white unfolded in front of Edward. “Wow, it's quite broad! And very round!” He then attached the slate on his waist. He then took the cannon in the centre and examined it. It was charcoal black in stark contrast with the shimmering silver of the other weapons.

“I told them that you seemed to quite like wielding Stormbreaker, so they added the bayonet and the ability for it to fold up into a head like what he, uh, it has.” Veritas elaborated.

“Ah,” Edward gasped quietly. He placed the cannon over his right arm and blue lines appeared all over it, including the axe-head. “Oh wow, it's even got the compressed starkiller beam, I didn't think it was possible!” Edward began to think intensely, “I think I have a plan to take her on, now.”

“Oh?” Vert's curiosity piqued.

Edward explained, “I'll be bait and you can close the trap.”

“Trap?”

Edward and Vert left the building with the spiral walkway. He was dangling her over the edge of one of the vast steel wall outside. “See that? It's a Neutron Star with the shielding up, when the rings are spinning around it, it opens. That's the trap!”

Vert looked at him like he was foaming at the mouth and trying to bite her.“Are you crazy?” she asked in pure astonishment.

“Yes, but one has to be in my line of work, it's why I only semi-retired. When the cage opens up, the gravity dampeners will be weakened and time will slow down around it, but the gravity controller on my armour will compensate. Keep it open for an hour, you'll actually be giving me a small window to finish her off due to gravitational time dilation.” He explained. She nodded her head unsurely. “We better get on this as soon as possible, I plan to try to revive our fallen benefactors, if you trust me.”

“I do trust you, which I suppose is all you need to hear,” she confided. Veritas (the woman and the weapon) headed off as Edward continued to stand atop the wall. His long wait for the rings to start moving again ended as he felt a violent rattling beneath him. Several minutes later, light began to shine from the star far below. Edward, Stormbreaker and Iustitia in hand, propelled himself forwards and upwards. As he drifted away from the ringed world he pointed his arm-cannon at the glowing white sun. A streak of green light shot forth from the cannon's barrel, touching the star in an instant. Energy from the sun instantly flowed from the star into his right-hand weapon. After a minute of siphoning the energy, he pointed it at the far side of the rings and shot dozens of beams over it. He spotted an incoming speck of light from the corner of his eye. As it neared he could see it was orange and purple, the girl with the two Infinity GemStones, and she was approaching fast. Ed flung Stormbreaker at her, distracting her. He then activated small thrusters to turn himself. He latched onto her back as she passed and tried to claw the purple rock out of her back. Every scratch of his fingers was met with a burst of energy, knocking them back. She began to elbow him, in response he pushed himself off her and fired a stream of white energy at her, exhausting his weapon's supply but sending her flying into the star. He then discarded Iustita and activated his thrusters, sending himself in pursuit of the girl. He looked away form the star as it grew bigger and even more luminous, observing the ring structures around it move ever faster and faster.

After minutes of hurtling through space, he landed on the structure containing the star and directly on top of the glowing girl. Purple energy began to spread out across the surface from around her, however none pushed him away. He delivered a series of blows to her head before the sheer pull of gravity forced him to place his arms around her head to support himself. He brought a knee to his torso in a struggle to simply kneel. She reached up and tried to grab his throat, he batted her groping arm away. She continued to squirm, trying to raise her arms and legs. He then stabbed her with the blade on his left arm. Penetrating directly in the centre of her collarbone, the blade cut clean through and dislodged the purple adornment. He bent down. She struggled to reach behind her, as her limbs were pinned to the ground. Her hand lurched and batted the gem, sending it flying, propelled by more bursts of purple energy, towards an opening in the sun's cage. Ed cast a yellow glow around it and began to crawl towards it. He gripped it tightly in his left hand as the glow dispersed, all that momentum built up in it sent it and Ed sliding uncontrollably into the hole. He was, however, able to catch the edge with his right hand, holding onto it just as tightly. The Power GemStone spewed a stream of energy through his fingers, scorching them, and into the Neutron Star. He enveloped it with nanomachines, drawing its energy into his armour's muscles and giving him the strength to lift his left hand away from the stellar mass. He strained as he lifted his left hand up to his right. He nudged the jewel into the concave slot under his right index finger, he tapped it several times, each with increasing desperation. Then his left arm fell limp and his left hand flew open, empty.

He looked up at his other hand, spotting that the Power GemStone was sitting firmly in the metal glove. He grinned and heaved himself back out of the opening. He looked up, noticing the rings were motionless. Looking down he saw a slab of metal cover the bottom of his hole, immediately he felt the pull of gravity weaken. He climbed out of the pit and walked towards the girl, now barely glowing at all. He straddled her and reached for the Soul GemStone, then he noticed the girls resigned expression.

“How did you resist my attack,” she mouthed, silently, “do you have a soul?”

He plucked the gem out of her torso and she dissolved into light. He placed the orange stone in the gauntlet’s slot at the base of the middle finger. He clenched both his hands, causing purple and green energy to enveloping his armour and rocketed away from the stellar mass.

Several moments later he had landed back at the building with the spiral path. He then clenched both of his hands again, the green gem on his left hand glowed along with the purple gems on his right and a wave of energy washed over the whole of Nidavellir. The pool of blood seeping from the head of one dwarf started to recede into him and the colour returned to his skin. The giants all around him started to stir and rise to their feet. The one next to him looked down at him and in the eyes. Ed retracted his helmet.

“Bizzare,” he began in wonderment, “I felt a pain in my heart, then a nightmare of being in a world of orange water.”

“Like the prophesy fortold?” Edward inquired.

“Oh father of Bor! Was it true? It actually came to pass?”

“Yeah, but it's all okay now.” Ed assured him.

“Ed, are they waking up there too?” He heard Vert call out.

“Yup, just teeming with life out here,” he stated casually, “I'm actually completely serious!”

Veritas came running at him from the entrance to the spiral. She dropped the sword and jumped into Edward's arms.

“You did it!”

“We did it, you mean. You and that armour were invaluable,” he corrected her. “Now, pick yourself up and we'll get out of here.” He summoned Stormbreaker and Iustitia. “You'll wanna stand back, Hagrid.” He said to the dwarf, who stepped back in confusion. “Oh, and tell Thor I'll return his toy when he behaves himself.”

A brilliant glow enveloped the two and they vanished, leaving only an intricate scorch on the ground.

**Chapter 14: Death and his Masters, the Cushing Situation.**

“I AM Death. All your violence and holy weapons will not end me. I am the inevitable end of life and as such am above life. This, what you've dealt to me is merely a momentary slumber,” boasted a cloaked being, hiding only a skull under its cloak. It's skeletal hand was holding a large scythe. It spoke to a musclebound, blond haired man, his face almost carved in stone. He wore leather armour, boots and metal bracers on his forearms. He wielded a length of chain with a spiked ball on the end.

He rebuffed its speech, “I am Simon Belmont, of the Belmont clan. We die, but our blood will live on like it has for centuries.” The cloak and skeleton tossed its scythe into the air as it dissolved, the scythe landing within inches of the blonde warrior. It set off the room, which was lined with pillars and orange fabric and through the iron doors on the far end. On the other side he was met with the sight of a long staircase lit by the night sky, it lead to a tower at the castle's peak. Without hesitation and with determination, he started the long march up it. He looked down at the rest of the castle, ancient yet pristine and beyond it marvelling at the sheer height the structure was floating far above the Earth as a cloud drifted into the courtyard.

Inside the tower was a single man, towering in height, bearded white.

“You've spilled many a man's blood. You'll be lucky if mine is your last, Dracula.” He promised, darkly.

“What are you?” he taunted, taking a sip from a glass in his hand, “You're nothing but the lamb who had the gall to bite the shepherd.”

“A man is not a sheep, we are not your flock and I... am your long-awaited reckoning.” the Belmont declared.

“Fine, but it begs questioning; What is a man? A miserable pile of secrets! But enough talk, HAVE AT YOU!!” He spat, flippantly.

Simon charged at him, suddenly finding himself enveloped in a cloud. When the cloud vanished, he found himself in amongst trees, with the broad daylight shining through. He slammed his fist into a tree and slumped to his knees. Behind him he could hear a mellifluous high noise. He turned to see several people emerging from light. All but one were wearing red and black, the exception being one man wearing earthy colours and showing his forearms. All except him were carrying what looked like metal clubs, but were holding them by handles protruding perpendicularly. The non-uniformed man approached him and introduced himself eagerly.

“Hello there, I'm the Doctor. Looks like you've had a run-in with Dracula, haven't you?” He asked.

“Deliverance!” Simon bellowed, “You've been sent form the heavens, haven't you?”

“Incorrect, we've been dispatched by the captain. to retrieve the Sp-” The chartreuse gynoid began before the Doctor interrupted her.

“We want to take something form Dracula.” The Doctor briefed in-brief.

“As do I... his life.” Simon affirmed. The Doctor turned away and exhaled deeply from his nose before heading back to the team of red shirts.

“Well, first up we need a name for, well, this,” The Time-lord nervously ordered.

“Judging from the looks of it, hmm,” Fuller mulled over. Then his face lit up, “Schwarzenegger!”

“Noted,” Lu-ut piped in.

“Yeah, it works,” the Doctor admitted.

“Please explain all of the benefits of recruiting a 'muggle' to our cause,” Lu-üt expressed dubiety.

“We picked up two distortions in space. One that we pinpointed to what turned out to be Dracula's castle, no need to mince words, and the other, here. Logical conclusion is that this guy has experience fighting our mutual fiend's forces,” The Doctor obliged.

“Excuse me, men of red. If we are one in our pledge to take down the Count then it would be wise for you to include me in your strategy. In regards to that, I did clearly hear one of you say 'Schwarzenegger', what is a 'Schwarzenegger'?” The would-be vampire killer asked.

“Sorry, friend, you're right, come here.” The Doctor invited him, “what is your name, by the way?”

“Simon Belmont, of the Belmont clan. Our bloodline has dedicated themselves to the extermination of vampire-kind.”

“Well.... sounds like you have experience, along with drive,” the Doctor commented.

“I say we bring him along.” Fuller approved.

“A consensus seems to be forming. Security team?” She faced the half-dozen other red shirted officers, “do you approve?” They all nodded their heads in agreement. She procured a device, waving it slowly around herself before coming to a halt. I now understand the use of 'Schwarzenegger', also, there is a village nearby,” she turned slightly, “in that direction. We shall head there for rest, shelter and investigation.”

The group stopped short of entering the settlement, electing to send Simon and the Doctor on ahead to barter for discreet clothing. The Doctor had borrowed one of the security team's phasers, using it to offer to chop down any tree or break up any firewood in exchange. The villagers were initially amazed at how swiftly it felled trees and splintered wood until he cheekily informed them that transporting the logs was not in their agreement, he did offer to further split the logs in exchange for a nights sleep for his cohort. The team agreed to sleep in shifts, aside form the gynoid, who insisted she'd only need an hour's shut-down. The Doctor, Lu-üt and Security Chief Fuller had taken a shift together to further discuss plans.

“The termination of Dracula could be detrimental to the integrity of the timeline, our only concern should be the acquisition of the Space GemStone,” Lu-üt persisted.

“Termination of Dracula is a long shot, kinda makes worrying about the timeline a bit of a moot point.” Fuller reminded them, “Whatever it is that's blocking a majority of the sunlight from hitting his castle is beyond any science I know of, what about you Doctor?”

The Doctor scratched his head, then covered his mouth with his index finger. After a moment he gave his view, “Vlad was a nasty fellow in life. He epitomised the sort of violence of the era that we've come to abhor. Negotiation is, I'm afraid to say, almost certainly out of the question. But we can still pull the rug out from under him. As for his tricks, I did a course on Magic Theory in the course of my education, but it was mostly vague talk about particles seeping in from other realities, higher dimensions, so I dropped it.” Fuller hung his head, while the robot girl, not unusually, gave a blank look. The Doctor, sensing he was losing their faith, continued with more certainty, “what we have here is a long shot, but it could work. If it doesn't work here, we'll make it work elsewhere. We can exploit 'Harryhausen', make them a liability for Drac. This will come at a cost, one I hesitate to pay.”

The Doctor fell silent, lowering his head. He then looked back up at the other two, “I need to make a confession and I know now isn't a good time, but I need it off my chest. The old me, push come to shove, would've taken up arms against Dracula with very little more quarrel. My people ages ago were sickened to acts of violence from a war with a race a lot like his kind, but that didn't quite sink into me until I found myself entangled in what was arguably an even worse conflict. I've done everything in my considerable power to make sure the universe didn't know war like I did. I know that atrocity is coming and that I can't stop it, but I'm sure as hell going to avenge and put a stop to it, with my life if I have to. So, if you don't mind, I think it'd be necessary for me to hold onto this phaser.”

“A phaser will improve your odds of survival, significantly,” Lu-üt estimated. The Doctor nodded his head in silent, begrudging agreement.

….

In the Titor, Counsellor Saluk and Sirrok were alone in the counsellor's room. It was sparesly decorated except for the pair of bookshelves, lined with what Sirrok assumed were books on various species' psychology. Saluk placed his hands on Sirrok's head and the two clenched their eyelids tightly closed for several moments before opening them again.

“You've almost gotten as used to the horror that is my mind as I have.” Sirrok quipped.

“Your mind is a room full of lock-boxes, there is nothing horrifying about that. I would understand you being guarded at this time, but this state of mind is not unusual for you. You should learn to trust me, if any Romulan could trust a Vulcan,” Saluk lectured him.

“Then I'll trust you with this; the Temporal Navigator irks me. What's a near-child doing handling such a vital function on this vessel? We wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for him.” He lambasted.

“Then you don't trust his explanation?” the counsellor inquired.

“It's an arbitrary number 'can't jump less than 51 years' is a convenient explanation. There, I've trusted you, don't push me to trust him.”

“I shan't, it's neither my duty nor how it works. If I may be so bold, aren't you worried about saying that, I mean to relate this to the 'Cushing' situation?” Saluk asked, coyly.

“I am being adequately discrete. If there's one thing you can trust a Romulan to do, it's to practice discretion right up until the actual strike.

A cloudy mass materialised next to Saluk and an oversized arm emerged, swiftly snatching up the Vulcan. He was pulled into a largely vacant room, aside from the occupants and dozens of lit candles.

“And just like that, I've plucked the keystone from the arch,” the white-haired giant boasted, pulling Saluk closer to him. Saluk saw an opportunity, placing his hands on the sides of his captor's head. He doubled over in agony, dropping the smaller man. Saluk shoved him sending him stumbling back but failing to topple him.

“Vlad the Impaler, or would you prefer Count Dracula,” Saluk asked the tall lordly one. Who responded by shoving a foot into his face and pinning him to the ground. Saluk looked around the room. He could see a small girl, minuscule compared to the Count and wearing long blonde twintails , along with a taller young man, light blonde of hair but otherwise bearing a strong resemblance to Dracula.

“Let me detain him, father,” the young man volunteered.

“Do what you will, son,” the Count permitted.

“Not before we have a taste of him, brother Alucard,” the smaller girl grinned, “ooh, that's funny, he's got pointy ears. Is that steel ship full of genuine elves?” she bit into him before she was pulled back by her brother.

“Gird your loins, sister Mina. No hostage is useful if buried,” he chastised her.

“Do not quote that wretched book to me or I'll have daddy remove your tongue,” Alucard ignored the girl's screeching as he picked up the Vulcan in his arms, he carried him out of the room when Mina asked, “What's made the elves scared of you, daddy?”

“They covet the blue stone, with it I see all, touch all.”

Alucard jumped out of the tower at the height of the castle and into a nearby clock-tower. He propped Saluk against a wall inside the busily clicking and clanking space.

“You do not deserve this, elf,” Alucard admitted, despondently. Saluk pressed the badge on his chest and simply said,

“Bridge,”

He then extended his hands to either side of the young vampire's head. Alucard staggered back for a moment before pushing the other's hands onto his head.

“Saluk, what's your status?” A voice urged.

“The Vulcan will live, Cushing will die.” Alucard promised.

…..

The next morning came. The Doctor and Fuller were the last to emerge from their beds. They headed to the dining hall of the the Inn, where they found their compatriots in among the noise enjoying breakfast.

“The food here's a bit saltier that wha' my father and grandmother would make, but it's hardly the worst thing I've eaten. I did a deep scouting subsistence mission on Rygel Three for a month, I couldn't eat **anything** I could catch there without smotherin' it in dirt, charcoal or boilin' it in tea brewed from the local leaves, which itself tasted ugly, for lack o' a better word,” one security officer told.

“Count your blessings you weren't sent to Twin Tabula,” another began, “the anti-viral formula for that mission gave me and my team blistering headaches and nothing tasted right. Imagine eating an apple a day, y'know keep the Doc away, no offence intended, and it'd look good but taste rotten. We couldn't eat the snacks we smuggled down to the planet's surface, our stomach's couldn't take it.”

“That's what I'm sayin'.” The first one responded, “I won't speak for any of you but roughin' it here ain't so bad.”

“Hey, why didn't any of you wake me up at dawn,” Fuller inquired.

“First Officer ordered it, somethin' about 'optimal recuperation',” The security officer reported. Fuller walked to the next table, where only one of his sat eating. This looked particularly conspicuous as their company at the table was the robotic First Officer.”

“As our itinerary for today was empty after breakfast, I assessed that a night of optimal recovery would benefit all involved.” Lu-üt noted.

“I guess I should've made it an order. What's up doc? Hah, bet you never heard that before!” Fuller asked facetiously.

“I'll admit, it's been a while,” the Doctor sighed.

A scream pierced the murmuring in the lodge. A village woman burst through the door, distressed.

“The gorgon is here! The Count's monsters are with her!” She shrieked before she fell to the floor.

The visitors from out of time shot to their feet. The Security Chief commanded a couple of his officers to guard the lodge. The others, including the Doctor and the robot woman rushed outside, weapons drawn. Outside they spotted walking skeletons, armed with swords, lances, shields and bones grappling with the population, some were dragged off back into their houses. Flying through the air were disembodied eyes and floating busts of a woman with serpent hair. They opened fire, vaporising the marauders instantly. The group rushed through the village, continuing to dispatch the monsters swiftly until a winged beast swooped at them from nowhere.

“Forrest, Doohan head right. Hamill, Ford, head left. Focus offensive on freeing any villagers in distress!” Fuller ordered, “Anderson, Shanks help me take down the gargoyle. Lu-üt, Doctor, go on ahead.”

The Doctor hesitated, but Lu-üt began dragging him ahead. She and the Doctor truned their attention to a child who was being dragged indoors by a skeleton warrior. The gynoid bashed down the door, behind it they saw a cloudy portal. The Doctor shot a beam at the bony bandit, freeing the child and allowing it to run to them. The Doctor turned a table on it's side, he told the kid to hide behind it concealing him with a rug he threw over him and the furniture.

“Hide there and stay still, little one.” He asked, before turning to his compatriot, “That portal's our best opportunity. Take our fight to the root of all this?”

She nodded and marched through the portal, the Doctor following her closely behind.

They exited to a dilapidated ranch. They could see horses wandering the area, horses that were missing all but their bones. The artificial woman pressed the badge on her chest.

“First Officer Lu-üt reporting, we're in an area that is experiencing inexplicable nightfall. Trace our location.”

A voice came through the badge in response, “Co-ordinates pinpointed, our scan of the area indicates that the Infinity GemStone is nearby. We will approach at a distance in half of an Earth hour.”

“Well, that settles it. We're in the jowls of the beast, time to head for the belly.” The Doctor resolved.

“Indeed.” The gynoid opened her tricorder and scanned the area, “We're surrounded by walls too dense to effectively weaken with our weapons.” Her eyes fixed on a building, “Those stables appears to be our way ahead.”

The two headed inside, noting immediately the lack of any stable-like creature comforts; there were no stall doors, grass and weeds had grown over the ground and had even begun to entangle empty sacks that lay in the corner. The two were heading for the opening on the other side when the doors at the entrance slammed shut behind them. The Doctor spun around to face the entrance, while Lu-üt glanced back at it for a moment before facing forward again. As they tread lightly to the entrance on the other side they could hear slow trotting echoing from it. An undead horse emerged from the side of the opening to stand in front of them, riding atop it was a skeleton wielding a lance. Its skull faced their direction but the lack of eyes in its skull made neither Time Lord nor robot sure which it was staring down. Next, the horse turned to face them as it's rider kept it's head pointed at them. The horse thumped it's foot on the ground and snorted at them. Then it reared at them and began to charge. Lu-üt shot at it, having no effect. While it ran its lance into her, knocking her to the ground. The Doctor ran to pick her up but couldn't lift her. The cavalry combatant turned around, charging at them again. The Doctor fired at it, to no avail. He stumbled backwards as it neared, it reared again and flailed its front hooves at him before falling to it's side.

The Doctor spotted Simon Belmont had wrapped his rope around the lance-wielding rider. He pulled his whip away from a pillar it had also partially wrapped itself around, pulling the rider towards him. He then smashed a glass of clear liquid on its skull, dissolving it and the rest of the undead enemy. The horse hopped back on it's feet and tied to buck at the Belmont. He responded by wrapping his weapon around it's neck and pulling it to the ground. The Doctor exploited this distraction to help the robotic woman to her feet. The three mounted the rotting equine, Simon steering it out of the stable and away from the former ranch.

The trio could clearly see the landscape ahead of them, giant chunks of land floating ahead of them. Their mount hurtled through verdant woods as Belmont steering it deftly between the trees. It slowed down as it started to gallop up a rocky incline. Their path levelled out suddenly, the trees opening into sheer cliff-side ahead of them. The three jumped off, landing hard on the ground as the night mare tumbled into the entrance, making a loud crash as it fell inside.

“Ow, uurg, you were doing pretty well there, vampire-slayer,” The Doctor groaned coming too his feet.

“I was inclined to believe the terrain would not possibly change so significantly,” Simon claimed defensively.

Lu-üt opened her tricorder and after a moment's scan concluded,“The only way forward is through the cave.”

She made her way into the entrance, and after moments of hesitation from Simon and the Doctor, they followed her. As they entered the interior of the cliff-side, they heard the rushing of water echoing between the cave's spiky protrusions. They could, mercifully, barely make out as the progressed as the cavern opened up to show cracks in it's heights, cracks which allowed some sparse moonlight to gleam through. Deeper in they found the source of the noise, water seeping in through more openings littering the cavern, flowing towards the down sloping floor to form a river. Without hesitation, Lu-üt stood into the water causing The Doctor to gasp and cringe. She turned to face them and held out her hand, supporting them as The Doctor gingerly stepped in following her. Simon tactfully turned down her aid as he nonchalantly stepped down into the immersion. The group, with the robot heading out in front, briskly made their way down the incline, following the water as it wound its way through many gaps leading into pointed rocks or dark abyss. As they continued, more and more water seeped through the rocky walls, to the point that they were nearly knee-deep in the water.

The water's gushing flow suddenly changed directions, flowing **back _up_** the incline. Lu-üt fell face first into the bizzare liquid, the Doctor stumbled onto his knees. As the gynoid rushed by the Time Lord, he attempted to grab her, only to fall deeper in and be carried off as well. Simon caught and lifted the Doc out of the water and lashed with his rope towards the First Officer as she fell into a gap in the water. Simon strained against the rope with the hope that he had caught the gynoid. He struggled to hoist it back up until he saw a chartreuse-coloured hand emerge from the crevasse and grab onto his thread. The Doctor joined him as he pulled again, lifting her out.

“Are you okay, Officer?” The Doctor asked as he helped her to her feet.

“My condition is of least concern. Simon caught his whip between rocks, so I extracted it from it's snare, holding it in one hand as I climbed out,” she detailed, uncannily calm. She looked around her pockets and looked back to them, “I appear to have dropped my tricorder, we have a negligible chance of retrieving it, so the course of action I suggest is to simply proceed.”

“I still have my sonic screwdriver,” The Doctor patted around his pockets hastily, “I think.” He produced the small metal rod from his shirt, breathing a sigh of relief, “yeah, see?”

Some time later, the water became calmer, leading to a dam concealing the floor of a tower embedded in the mountainside, amongst the ruins of other buildings.

“Our best chance of reaching Dracula's castle is in ascending that tower.” Lu-üt estimated.

“There's only two things that belong here,” a strange sinister voice began, “Stone and water, which one are you two?”

A purple skinned woman emerged, robed in more purple, and more black, her robes reached the lower half of her body, they shifted into a scaly thick tail. Her hair teemed with oily black hair and snakes. Her scaly arms held a staff embellished with golden snakes. She coiled her way around and underneath the stone platform on which she stood, approaching the party of three.

“Well, the human body is mostly water, so I'll be good with that.” The Doctor sniped.

“My composition is mostly silicon and metals. Those are analogous to stone,” Lu-üt responded, oblivious to the threat.

“You will have none of us Medusa!” Simon warned the reptilian woman as he marched up to her, brandishing his whip.

“No, let me handle this,” The Doctor insisted, blocking the Belmont. He locked eyes with her, refusing to break eye contact as he neared her. He stopped under the platform and pulled out his high-tech screwdriver.

“Now, what will you do with that thing, he of two hearts?” she asked derisively to the man, who was now directly below her. She extended herself down lower, to the point of breathing on the Doc's face.

“Well, I think this might break that thing you've got yourself coiled around,” he stated off-hand.

“You'll break first!” Medusa shrieked, a wide beam of light shot from her eyes. He lurched his body forward, dodging her head. She saw a quick glimpse of herself in the water where the Doctor's head was before she turned to stone.

“What can I say?” The doctor asked rhetorically, shrugging, “she had a reputation.”

Simon lashed his whip around her neck and pulled back, snapping it from the rest of her body.

“What was that for?” the Doctor scolded.

“What can I say?” He parroted him, also shrugging, “she had a reputation.”

A portal appeared behind the Doctor and a long arm gripped his shirt and pulled him through. Simon chucked a bottle of liquid through the portal. On the other side, it landed at Dracula's feet. He jumped out of the puddle, dropping his captor while vapour drifted from him. He then shot the vampire lord in his face while sticking his screwdriver down his pants, sending the towering man reeling. He produced a badge from his pocket and squeezed it.

“Sirrok, are the buffers full?” He asked.

“They are, Doctor.” the captain transmitted.

“I see.” The Doctor responded, unhappily.

He aimed his phaser at the dark blue gem hanging from his neck and fired. The gem let off a burst of energy as it flew off Dracula, knocking him onto his back.

“I think I've won, Count,” the Doctor proclaimed as he approached the gem, “I'll be merciful. I'll send you somewhere far away from here, somewhere you can't menace the people of any world.”

The Doctor picked up the gem and as he did it enshrouded him in a dark blue glow. An electrified cloud seeped from the gem and smothered him. The cloud dispersed, the gem dropped from it back onto the floor.

Simon and Lu-üt had no choice but to continue inside the tower, but found its interior empty. At its center was a hollow column made of blue and dull brown bricks with vines growing on them. Underneath it stood, collapsed, a stone staircase. The two climbed it up to its premature end and examined the area. They could, still, see no way upward. Simon fell forward, landing on his hands and saving his head from colliding with the top stair.

“I am detecting a change in gravity, grab my hand,” she asked. Simon took it, he looked at his feet as the pebbles began to roll towards the corners of the stairs. She leant against the changing pull of the gravity, pulling the vampire killer with her.

“I do not believe in holding a life debt as hostage, but I believe this is grounds to make our owings balance,” she commented.

“They are balanced, strange woman,” he concurred.

They were still on the stairs, but now gravity was such that they were able to jump from them to the hollow column. As they headed what was up but now across the inside, they began to sway to their left. Lu-üt was able to stay on her feet and offer her assistance to Simon as be began to stumble. The gravity in the tower would continue to pull them clockwise and anti-clockwise until they reached the end. Through the windows they could see a path to the castle. The gynoid officer shot the window out with her phaser and jumped through it. Simon, after a minute's hesitation and unbalance from the shifting gravity, followed her though it. The pull shifted abruptly on him as he fell, falling towards the grass near where his companion stood. She picked him up and headed straight towards the castle.

The two stood at the drawbridge when Lu-üt stopped abruptly.

“Are you nervous?” Simon asked, concerned.

She pressed the badge on her chest and relayed orders, “this is First Officer Lu-üt, place the first phase down near my location.” Several small metal apparatuses appeared out of light around them. She then continued across the drawbridge. Simon stared at the metal devices until a crash of thunder snapped him out of his daze, he then followed her in.

Sirrok stood on the bridge and observed a bizarre phenomenon; as the ship approached the floating castle, day would fade swiftly into night.

“Might as well close in some more. Stop once we've moved another twenty-three kilometres,” he ordered calmly. “I want a zoom in of the drawbridge, see if the catians have gotten curious.” The display flickered and showed an image of the metal nodes standing outside of the extended entrance. He observed a large man, covered in metal studs and stitches lumber out to inspect the transported tech. “Tell me when we're one kilometre out, ensign.” The ensign replied to his order and continued working his monitor. A red-shirted officer entered the room.

“Captain, modifications are complete, the relay is ready. All authorised personnel are armed and standing by,” the officer reported.

“Excellent, come here and look at this.” Sirrok beckoned.

The studded man reached out to touch the node, only for a cloud of vapour to form over it and drench him. He fell to his knees and his rotting grey flesh began to melt.

“Sir, we're one kilometre off,” the operator relayed.

Dracula held the dark blue stone in his hand, holding it tightly as he stared out the tallest tower in his castle and at the approaching ship; a ship white and blue in colour, it's front section resembled a pair of dinner plates, one upside down on top of one right side up. From the rear protruded three structures; one out the top and behind, one straight out it's back, and one out the bottom and behind. Attached to each were a pair of glowing pods as large as each section, each being larger than his castle in and of themselves, there were six such pods in total.

“Alright Drac, you know and I have been playing poker ever since we came back here. You could look at our cards, we couldn't look at many of yours, but the trick is to be able to read them, something you have had some difficulty with, haven't you? You listening Count?” he asked the air in the room. “Earth has a saying, the best offence is a good defence, or something like it. The point being that the two can look a lot alike. You knew attacking us outright could end badly and we knew attacking you similarly would end the same... unless, we had time. We have had our guys on yellow alert, not that that should mean anything to you, for the last few months. Now, we're on red.” He pressed his badge, as an alarm rang out, “all units, get ready for battle, all away-team officers are to head for their nearest internal transporter, on the double! The ship will now separate!”

The front, dinner-plate-resembling section started to head even closer to the castle. The three rear sections began to drift apart; the top section floated to above Dracula's castle, the bottom to the left, and the centre to the right. All the nodes standing in front of Dracula's castle entrance began to light up, enveloping the area in hundreds of beads of light. As the light faded, dozens of red-shirted officers had appeared and begun to charge over the drawbridge and into the castle.

Far inside the castle, Simon Belmont and Lu-üt had arrived at a spiral staircase heading upwards and downwards.

“Reports indicate that most spacial distortions we detected were garbled enough to suggest that they were coming from underground.” Lu-üt recalled, before divulging her plan, “I shall head down, while you head up to the Count and acquire us Dracula's blue gemstone.”

“If the stone is so important, why do you not join me in fighting Dracula?” Simon asked hastily, grabbing her arm, causing her to turn around. She held her phaser in one hand and the other wrapped around Simon

“I am required by protocol to provide aid to all non-enemy lifeforms if no-one is offering it already,” she pulled her arm out of Simon's grip and headed down the staircase.

She headed for a locked door, smashing it down with a shoulder charge, through the door she could see a room filled with gold and jewelery, and through the open doorway on the other side, more valuables. She turned away form the entrance and made her way further down the spiral staircase. She found another doorway, crashing through it into a room full of chains and restraints and walking skeletons, some armed with swords and lances. She cut through them with her phaser and transmitted another report, “I'm in the dungeon, will relay the locations of prisoners.”

Meanwhile, Simon stood on the edge of a dance floor, it was filled with the waltzing specters, dancing to silence, aside form the sounds of firing phasers and the creaking of massive chandeliers above. Simon ran through the crowd only for them to bunch together, becoming impassable. Simon stood back and looked above. He headed over to the rope holding one of the chandeliers up, he felt around in his belt for a knife, finding something bulkier in there instead. He pulled it down to find it was one of the weapons that his cohorts used. He took a few shots at the chain but failed to hit it. Instead he climbed the rope up to the fixture. He swung on top of one after another as he made his way over the dancers until a pair or ghosts rose up to block his progress. They brandished rapiers and charged at him. He dodged and lashed his rope at their weapons, disarming them as he pulled it back. He pulled out the phaser and shot at the chain of the fixture he stood on. Sending him back to the ground. Once he was grounded he made a break for the doors taking him closer to Dracula.

Lu-üt was continuing to make her way though the dungeon, cutting down undead and other creatures on sight, beaming up prisoners as she spotted them. She spotted a heavily barricaded door, blasting through it she found a small girl with twin-tails who had latched herself on to Saluk, licking a bite on his neck.

“A most unusual taste, foul and much too warm to begin with but after-,” she began to critique smugly.

The First Officer gynoid shot at her, detaching her from the Vulcan. A cloud of light enveloped and vanished him. The small vampire girl scrambled back on her feet and darted towards Lu-üt, biting her neck. She pried the little one off her and threw her against the wall. She began to write and convulse, her body expanded and hardened into a metallic substance. As her growth reached the ceiling, the area began to rumble.

She activated her comm badge, “First Officer to Titor transporters, structural integrity of the castle is compromised. Requesting the triangulation and transportation of remaining signs of life.”

“This is transportation, do I receive you correctly? You want us to transport all life in the lower levels?” A voice asked precisely.

“Confirmed.”

Simon had begun to cross a section bridging the ballroom to the clocktower when he looked behind him. He spotted bats bursting out of the bridge, forcing him to run full-pelt to the other side as more and more bats emerged. A massive explosion in the side of the castle, turned the colony's tail away from Simon. He continued to run until he reached the opening on the other side, finally he turned to see a giant insectoid creature emerge from the debris. He turned back to see Alucard emerging from the entrance.

“She is my sister, but not by blood. She calls herself 'Tepes' as an attempt to bring her closer to 'dearest daddy' Dracula. I believe I do have an actual sister, but she has long since cut ties with us. That woman is the bastard daughter of a noble loyal to Dracula. You'd think he'd have killed the noble, instead he murdered my mother, Lucrezia. Kill him and his generals,” his plea was veiled in stoicism. “Your friend touched the blue stone, I have not seen him since.” Simon walked past him, placing his hand on the young vampire's shoulder.

Sirrok recoiled at the sight of the monster, “pull the saucer back, one kilometer, shields at maximum! All units fire at will!” he commanded in a panic. All sections of the divided ship began lobbing orbs of energy at it. As it began to crawl towards the saucer section a beam of light from another section lit it up, it tripped as if it had been lassoed.

Simon made his way up the clock-tower, the lack of other platforms forced him into using the gears carry him up the tower. He climbed up the axle of a gear up to the underside of another, Wedging his rope between that gear an another one. He quickly climbed up to grip the tooth of the gear as his whip dislodged. He exited near the top of the clock-tower and looked around the tower, spotting the castle zenith behind him.

As he crawled onto the clock-face's hands, streams of fabric unfurled from gaps in the wall, hands extended. Simon recoiled, crawling backward to the edge of the arrow structure, as the lengths coalesced into a human form. Simon hopped back to his feet and began to whip at it, doing little more damage than to perforate it. It began to slowly hobble towards him, his continued whipping failing to stop it at all. He pulled out the phaser and shot it near it's feet, heating the metal to a red glow. As it stood on the shot patch, the fabric quickly caught fire, the wind's updraft spread the flames upward to it's head. It's foot gave away, causing it to fall off the clock's hand and onto the rim of its face. Simon continued across the clock-face and around the corner of the tower. He spotted the next castle keep he'd need to cross through to get to the building's zenith, and to where Dracula dwelt.

He stood in the middle of what he believed to be a room for trophies, only the stands were empty. He walked amongst the pedestals when a crashing startled him. He dove to one side as a creature, emaciated, beaked and wielding a spear attacked him. He lashed his whip out at it, only for it to catch it around the spear and pull it out of the Belmont's hands. He ran to one of the stand and hoisted it into the air. The beaked adversary thrust its spear toward him, he forced the stand onto the weapon, knocking it out of his enemy's hand. He tackled the creature and drove it into a wall with a sickening crunch, following it up with heaving it over his shoulder and letting it fall face-first into the ground. He ran back over to the spear and had partly pried the whip off of it when the creature leapt at him beak-first. Upon avoiding it, he struck a blow to the back of it's head, sending it falling to the floor again. He freed his weapon from the clutches of his opponent's spear and began to relentlessly lash at it. It once again charged at him and as it did, he wrapped his rope around it's neck and pulled it tightly. He struggled with it for what seemed like an eternity when he dragged it to a window, he spun it repeatedly into the air and let go, causing the creature, with his whip still around it, to soar through the glass. After taking a few moments to catch his breath, he shifted the pedestal off the spear and continued on up the keep.

From the new room he could see out across the land and feel the wind rushing by him. He observed the divided ship fighting Alucard's adopted sister in the greens out the front of the castle. Out the corner of the eye, Simon saw something in the air. As he began listening carefully, he could hear it flying up to him from behind. He jumped to the side and swung his spear, smashing it with the face of his would be killer; a blue gargoyle, with the teeth of a wolf and the claws of a vulture. It breathed a ball of fire at him before flying off. He pulled out the phaser again, holding it out in front of him as he waited for it to return. The creature rose up from behind him. He spun to face it as it breathed another ball of fire. He dove to the side and fired the weapon at it, dropping it at his feet. It twitched breifly as it lay on the ground but before Simon could react it had propelled itself on top of him and began clawing at him. He blocked the attacks with his arms, leading it to shift tactics and dig its claws into his arms. He kicked it in it's face repeatedly until it let go and fell onto his phaser. He looked around and saw the still-intact spear's head, which he took, using it to slash the gargoyles wings. It stumbled back to the edge as it held the phaser in it's hand, extending that arm in Simon's direction and squeezing down on it. Another beam shot out. Simon looked at his chest breifly only to realise he'd not been harmed by the bizarre, but indispensable weapon. Instead it had fired into the gargoyle's chest. Dropping the device, it stumbled and fell backwards onto its wings. To be sure, Simon rolled it off the edge of the platform and watched as it fell through a roof.

Simon ascended a set of stairs into a room surrounded by curtains. A familiar cloaked figure holding a scythe materialised before him.

“Cursed you are, Simon Belmont, to live a life of... me,” the reaper spoke in faux-lamentation.

“You may nip at my heels all my life, but we will only part on my terms,” Simon avowed.

“An insipid sentiment. When we part you will be on hands and knees,” it taunted.

“Nay, I will be in bed, and old.”

The skeletal reaper lunged at him, swiping his curved blade furiously. Simon dove out of his reach, he then backed away and produced a bottle of liquid. Death levitated high into the air and flung his cloak open, numerous smaller scythes flew out of it and towards Simon. He tossed the contained fluid into the air in front of him and shot at it with the phaser, vaporising the water. The mist covered the scythes, turning them into mush as they splatted onto the vampire hunter. He shot more beams around the room, setting the curtains on fire.

“Preposterous! What is that you hold in your hands?” Death asked in astonishment.

“It's a weapon of divine retribution, God's disciples themselves have descended to incur their wrath on you and your master.”

“I-Impossible!” he protested, he began to mutter to himself, “yet my master's power has grown considerably since acquiring that sapphire jewel. Perhaps enough for the Hyperzone Council to intervene.”

Simon took advantage of Death's disarray, shooting him directly in the skull with the phaser.

“M-mercy!” he pleaded, “Remove the crimson stone around his neck and you remove his power. Do that, and we will meet again for a long time, you have my word.”

Death vanished through the stone walls of the room and Simon headed for the entrance that had been concealed by the now-smouldering remains of the room's fabric decorations. Out the other side he saw a staircase to the tower at the castle's heights. He began to ascend the stairs when something behind him caught his attention. He turned to see Alucard standing below him.

“My father has many secrets he could bury... a few of which he could not erase. Prepare yourself for a fall.” He quietly said before smashing the staircase and sending Simon plummeting. He landed on hands and knees. Looking around he could see himself floating alongside rocks and dust form the broken structure he stood on. The formed a path that lead into the wall of tower he sought to enter. Standing at the wall, he looked around to see little more dust betraying the invisible path. He held his hand to the wall, to his surprise it passed through like it wasn't there. He walked through the illusory wall and into a room containing three sealed boxes and a pair of lit torches. He used the phaser to shoot open the locks, inside one were silver knives showing signs of having been taken out of charcoal, another held vials of liquid, he tasted one and realised it contained silver and other vampire-killing compounds, inside the last lie a silver chain whip, tipped with a pointed cross and a small vial. He took as much out of each as his belt could carry and tasted the liquid stored with the silver weapon. Immediately he felt the pain of several injuries fade, he checked his body and found no signs of wounds on him. At the end, he could see a bricked up exit and a container attached. Inside he could see a black powder and smell a metallic odour. He stood behind one of the boxes and aimed the phazer at the container, he shot it and it exploded, leaving a hole for him to walk through leading out to more stairs.

On top of those stairs sat the Count himself, he pointed his weapon at the towering vampire lord.

“Dracula, you are a coward. You cannot delay your fate forever.” Simon assured.

“Foolish mortal!” Dracula rebutted smugly, “I am like a child with a toy of endless amusements. Displacing you was simply to entertain me and seeing you exact your fury on a simple tree was simply delightful.”

“The crimson stone; Death said it was the pivotal for your bond.” Simon relayed. This triggered a twitch in the eye and a jerk of recoil in the back of the vampire lord.

“I see now, the angels in red and black were right to be wary of you. You seemed omnipresent, like God himself. Now you've incited his wrath, one of his angels gave me this,” he shot the phaser at his chest, severing the blood-red stone on it. “Move an arm or a let and the next shot goes for your head,” he calmly warned the undead master. Dracula looked down at the stone that had landed in his lap, a familiar looking cloud enveloped and vanished it.

“I am not omnipresent, although the dark red stone did offer me something close enough to it. I was not so all-seeing as to be able to forestall betrayal. To be laid low by the same method twice, and betrayed by my own blood.” Dracula bemoaned.

“You're a monster, Count. Now hand me the blood stone,” Simon demanded, not taking his eyes off Dracula's. Dracula slowly stood up, “I want the stone!”

“I don't have the stone!” Dracula bellowed.

A pair of arms wrapped themselves around his chest and dug their fingers in tightly. Alucard's head emerged from behind Dracula's back and sunk his teeth deep into his father's neck. Simon flicked his eyes to Dracula's feet, he could see no stone. Then they flicked to Alucard's eyes, his hands began to shake as they stared back at him, coldly as he continued to consume the dark red liquid seeping out of his father. “Damn you, s-son,” he gasped. Alucard's hair became stained black and slick, his eyes glowed with a brilliant red. A crash snapped Simon out of his fearful freeze, he turned to see a portal had opened up behind him. A dark blue glow shrouded him and forced him through it.

He landed on a cliff-side in view of the collapsing castle landscape. The cloud the collapsing keep kicked up enveloped both the building and the beetle-like monster that had menaced the floating ships. Next to Simon, Lu-üt appeared out of a cloud of light. He hastily knelt down to her, which she immediately discouraged, adding;

“I regret to inform you that neither the Space GemStone, nor our ally, the Doctor have been found.” She reported as Simon stood back up.

“What will you do now, green one?”

“We will pursue the stone in the next period we observed it, the year 2019.” She answered.

“Thank you for this divine tool,” Simon acknowledged as he returned the phaser to her. She vanished in another cloud of light. Leaving him to survey the ruins and observe the ship's sections as they moved back together.  
  
  


**Chapter 15: Unnimatrix Six**

Kino and Kale rode Hermes as it raced barely ahead of a truck. The truck swerved to and from the curb between it and the three. Kale shot a grenade under the truck, bursting its front tires. The rims dug into the road, kicking up dust and sparks, slowing the vehicle down enough for the motorrad to turn in front of it and into a road on the left. The truck swerved to follow them, fortunately for the trio, a metal man collided into the side and pushed it as it turned, tipping it onto its side. Hermes drove over a curb into a concrete path leading into a park. Kino continued down the concrete path stretched between a green choked creek and an industrial area until it stopped abruptly at a street where more vehicles lay in wait.

Several grey people with machinery bonded to their body emerged from the blockade.

“Resistance is futile,” they chanted in unison. An explosion burst out from their vehicles, knocking them to the ground. Hermes accelerated around the wreck and onto a stretch of concrete extending into the parkland beyond. They encountered the metal-covered man further down standing amongst greenery. It's faceplate slid forwards and above it's head, revealing the goatee-wearing face of Tony Stark.

“Hey, kid. Got some bad news for you, but your ride's bugged.” Stark informed Kino. Kale whipped out his firearm and pointed it at Stark's head. “Oh not this again.”

“Who's to say you're not informing on those machine men for us, you're not so different from them, in case you haven't noticed,” Kale accused.

“Oh for the love of... I already have a boss and it's not some friggin' machines!” Stark vented.

“He's right,” Kino pointed out, “he'd have taken us prisoner already if he was working for those robots.”

“K-kino, I'm sorry,” Hermes whimpered, “Some of those machines meddled with the saddle, I think that's when they potted the bugs.”

“Wait, it wasn't that green woman who took you?” Kino asked, holding her shock back.

“Hah, see? Nothing gets past these eyes.” Stark boasted, tapping his faceplate. Several Borg materialised from a green light nearby, as did the woman with the green Infinity GemStone.

“Parlay, Borg?” she asked.

“We do not negotiate, resistance is futile.” They chanted. One extended their arm aiming a beam of whirring noise at Stark. The lights on the Iron Man's armour began to flicker, the man fell to his knees. The woman cast a green glow on the mechanical soldier who attacked, rendering it immobile. She cast another onto Stark's armour, lifting him back to his feet and stabilising the armour's glow.

“I am mistress of of time, Borg. Resistance is not just something I can maintain but can also bring your kind to your knees, and, as you can see, lift you back off,” she boasted.

“Secondary adjunct of Unimatrix Six is not responding.” Another unit reported, it turned to face the group, “You will restore motion to this unit or the fleet will initiate bombardment of the area, you have one Earth minute to comply.”

“We don't negotiate with terrorists,” Stark stood adamant.

“Same,” Kale said, pointing his weapon at the Borg soldiers.

“You said you'd assimilate us and that there was nothing we could do about it, so what's the point in doing what you want?” Hermes asked pointedly. A green glow dematerialised the motorrad.

“Bring it back,” Kale demanded as Kino whipped out her weapon.

“Accept assimilation,” the drone ordered. Stark shot a red beam from his armour's wrist at the still moving cyborg drones, it failed to damage them.

“Ugh, that force-field signature is a lot different now,” Stark gulped.

“We have adapted to your weaponry, we have strengthened our shields to resist beams of electrons and projectiles of naquadah.” Kale let of several shots at the Borg, failing, as warned, to harm any of them. A Borg retaliated by aiming a beam of intense sound at his head, felling him. Another Borg fired a sonic beam at the green girl, to no avail. Kino ran up to her.

“Please, help me get Hermes back,” she begged of the Time GemStone.

“You will need this then,” the glowing girl informed her, handing her the light blue stone, “It is not yet in synchronisation with us, with the other five it may co-operate. For now, it is yours.” Kino took the stone out of her hand.

Kale's form shifted, no longer the blonde haired soldier, he changed into an azure-haired, pail skinned young woman.

“You may assimilate me,” the new Kale invited them. Three drones marched over to her and seized her. Meanwhile, a spectre bearing Edward Orson's visage appeared before Kino.

“Did that soldier just change?” Kino asked in disbelief.

“Yup, that's what Kale is short for; Kaleidoscope, so many colours in one package. Separate but sorta-kinda equal, but not really. The soldier aspect has changed to the cold heart, why the name? You'll see,” The apparation told her. Kale touched two of the drones on their chests, a sheet of ice emerged from underneath her hand and quickly covered them entirely. She then placed both hands on the head of the third and froze it's head immediately. She nudged then, sending them falling to the ground, shattering on impact. “I believe that she can explain their ability to violate conservation of energy, she draws it out of whatever she touches, almost completely.”

“What are you?” the young traveller girl asked the spectre.

“I'm a subroutine, or a pattern of thought implanted in the gem you're holding. I've had to ward off some nasty thoughts creeping into the head of the girl who used to embody this gem. Now I'm fighting them in the green girl, it's why she keeps removing me.. or it.” Edward explained.

“Oh, I'm still Kale, I'm just a different face now that he's resting,” the blue-haired girl answered, Kino.

[Why isn't she here now?] Kino thought.

“Well, it's because she's discovered that bodies, when you're a creature of pure thought, are largely worthless. She; the Mind GemStone, is the centre of a network of electrical impulses spanning the whole universe. The relationship between thought, psychic powers, and electricity is something my corporeal form learned in his time wielding the stone.”

[If that's the case then can I control those creatures?] she mentally asked.

“Sure,” he succinctly replied. Kino began to concentrate on the three remaining Borg, who were approaching Tony Stark. She could hear their thoughts.

[Subsumption priority; subject:Tony Stark. Technology is primitive but robust.] They thought as they engaged him in combat. [Psychic infiltration detected; new priority target: Kino] they turned to face her, firing waves of sound in her direction. Then silence.... The personified Time GemStone walked between her and the robotic drones, which were now standing still, as was all of the world around her.

“Tell me, do they even care that I'm here? Rhetorical question, I know that they won't begin hunting me for a while. They're sophisticated and determined, but idiots, as are all ants of a hive.”

“Why did you save me?” Kino asked her.

“Because your mind will only remain this strong for a few more moments. Tell her, Edward the subroutine.” She turned to face the specter.

“I won't hasten this and you know it,” he lectured the green girl.

“Tell me what?” Kino asked, with rising concern, “Is this gem going to kill me?”

“No, but you will wish you were dead,” Edward told her, his voice sombre.

“There are two paths that lie before you, Kino. One where you give me the gem and live in blissful ignorance, or you keep the gem and quickly learn the horror of reality.”

“I.... will keep the gem,” Kino resolved. The green girl unfroze time and the borg continued attacking her, deafening her. She focused intensely on a command; [Stop!] and the cyber-soldiers froze in place. She walked up to them, issuing another mental command [Take me to Hermes]. They grabbed her and the world around her changed from a sunlit park to a dark chamber filled with wires and dimly-glowing lights. In front of her was her motorrad and to her side was an elaborate glass tank, teeming with wires and pipes.

“[Priority organic acquired,]” A synthetic voice announced, “[New priority organic; Tony Stark: The Iron Man. Subject Kino is to surrender the Mind GemStone].”

“And what if I don't?” Kino asked calmly and confidently.

“[You will be assimilated.]”

“And if I do.”

“[You will be assimilated.]”

“I think I'll keep it then.” She remarked, issuing a command of [Drop!] to her electronic escorts. They fell like rag dolls.

“Honestly,” Edward began, “I would've preferred you'd surrendered me to the other GemStone, but choice and quantum physics is such a tangle, and so will your mind be.”

“[Secondary target vessel has been located, rerouting transmat beam to Unimatrix Six nexus]”

“What's Unimatrix Six?” Kino asked. Green lights appeared near the tube materialising a box familiar to her; the TARDIS. “Wait, what do you want that for? Only a Time Lord can pilot it.” She remarked, stressed.

“[Charging chroniton beam emitter, target lost, charging terminated. Tracing target.]”

[Answer my questions] Kino demanded, mentally.

“[Unimatrix Six is a faction of the Borg collective. A fundamental difference in methodology necessitated the splintering of Unimatrix Six from the remainder of the collective. The TARDIS is necessary to open up time corridors and expand the collective, assimilate all life; past, present or future.]”

Kino unholstered her firearm and placed a special round in it, she detached and held onto the loading lever with the same hand she held the Mind GemStone, and aimed it at the glass tube.

“I'm not afraid to use this,” Kino threatened, but remained calm, “Let us go; Hermes, the TARDIS, and me.”

Kino heard a gushing noise as she noticed water draining out of the tube. Beads of sweat started to form on her head, but her hands grip on her persuader remained steady. The fluid finished draining from the glass, the glass itself began to rise into the ceiling. It revealed a human figure suspended from wires, the figure raised it's head and looked at her. She stared intensely at it until she recognised it's face..... her arms fell limp and her persuader and the GemStone fell out of her hand.

….....

A stream of intense light struck a grassy field. Emerging from it were Edward and Veritas. They looked around the area, they were at the park in East Burrah but it was much more quiet than either expected.

“Strange,” Veritas remarked, “I thought things would be a lot more chaotic here.”

“Something's not right,” Edward furrowed his brow. He looked at his gauntlet, beaded with the Soul and Power GemStones, he clenched it and the orange gem began to glow. “Bad news, there's not a single sign of life here.... wait, there's one”

“One?” Veritas repeated. “Just one, not counting us.

…....

The Titor emerged from hypertime. An operator relayed to Sirrok a report that intense fighting had broken out amongst ships in orbit above Australia.

“With few exceptions, it's not our place to intervene, officer,” the captain reminded them.

“But sir, some of the combatants are recognisably Borg, according to the readings.”

“Oh, well that's an exception, render assistance to the other side. Engage!” He commanded

“Sir, more readings, there's an Infinity GemStone signature emanating from a ship within Australia's atmosphere.”

The captain swore under his breath, “Engage that vessel, full power!”

“Sir, I regret to inform you that a massive power signature is lying in the middle of the vessel with the GemStone, it's off the scale.”

“Something separate from the stone?” Sirrok asked, increasingly on edge.

“Yes sir.”

“Focus power on beaming it aboard, maybe we can use it against them.” Sirrok ordered, “Separate the ship! We should be able to pinpoint it if we surround it!”

The Titor split into it's four component forms as it entered the atmosphere over Australia. It surrounded the star tetrahedron to no resistance.

“Relay the transmission to the saucer's external transporter room.”

A blue box began to slowly emerge from the dancing lights flying around the transporter room until it took full form. The doors on it opened and from it's interior emerged Kino, a tear stained her cheek.

“Transporter room, report, what is it?” Sirrok transmitted.

“Sir, it's something called a Police Box and someone's emerged from it.” the transporter operator replied. Kino sat against it, her eyes red and wet.

“He's leading them,” she spoke despondently,

“Who's leading what?” the operator asked.

“The Doctor, he's leading the Borg.”

*****TO BE CONTINUED*****

**Author's Note:**

> Not noted in the fandoms is a small role of a Mina Tepes, from Dance In The Vampire Bund.


End file.
